Sunday, January 30, 2011

Sorry for being MIA yet again, same story, I've been busy getting myself into school-mode while maintaining what remains of my social life.

Anyway, my workout was as follows on Friday (I know I skipped some logs but the workouts were done for sure :))

Squats - 205lb 5x5 - here I had to lower my weight from 225 because of bad form, I lean forward too much and this makes my lower back hurt. I didn't notice before since the weight was manageable I guess, but now it's getting a problem.

Dumbell Bench - 55lbs 5x8 - Finally a gain, from 50lb to 55lb dumbell in each hand. This one felt great the next day on the chest.

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Had a great (but short) workout last Friday, I've been too busy to update my blog though.

Squats - 225lb (that's two 45lb plates per side!) 5x5
Shoulder Press - 95 lb (kinda had to cheat by using my legs for momentum to help near the end...)

That's all, third workout should've been one set of deadlifts but I didn't have time to do that. Plus, my legs were damn tired after doing my heaviest squat ever...I haven't had a leg workout like this since my early StrongLifts days.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Sorry for being a bit MIA lately, it's the second day of university since winter break ended, so I've been kind of busy with school related things. Still haven't stopped working out though; I'm officially started with the 3x/week program as of today:

Squats: 220lb 5x5Dumbell Press: 50 lbs each 5x8 (Didn't increase yet because of a slight pain around my left tricep, and also the gap between now and the last time I did this workout.)Barbell Rows: 115 lb 5x5Torso Rotation (machine): 140lb 3 x around 10

Also, since I'm starting basically what's my toughest semester so far - and I really want to be able to enjoy myself in the process like I did during my break - I realized that one of the things I should start posting about is how to manage your time to get things done, and have a little left over for yourself. After all, working out (and hence physical fitness) isn't just about looking good, it's about wanting to live a better life and there's more to that than working out. :)

Whether you want to lose fat, or get strong, squatting is an extremely important workout. Squatting with free weights is basically a full body exercise, working not only your legs but also your core and other stabilizer muscles. If your goal is to get strong, squats are a must. That's why you'll see my logs including squats every time I go to the gym.

If you're new to squatting and plan to start, this is important information. If you're already squatting, then good job. Just make sure your form is right. Bad form can cause you to mess up your back big time, and back injuries are the worst to live with.
What you want to do is start with the bar on your back (with your shoulder blades tightened) with feet shoulder-width apart, and before going down stick out your butt and then go down. Going down before sticking out your butt means you're going to go down improperly; by sticking it out first you ensure that you go straight down and not forward which is bad for your knees. Go as low as you can go (until your butt is at knee-level, this is best) and push back up. Make sure when you're going down your chest is out so that you don't lean forward.

A video showing perfect form is here (don't worry about how heavy it is)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGeRTvAf2hc

Thursday, January 13, 2011

So I'm thinking I want to blog more and get more involved and keeping a 3x/week training log doesn't do much does it? I was thinking of doing more with my blog so would it be a good idea to have random blog posts about whatever interests me in the same blog as my workout log? is it possible to make sections or something?

I'm using this blog as an opportunity to keep track of my strength training (Stronglifts 5x5, with some modifications of my own).

I've almost been on this for a year (old workout log here: http://stronglifts.com/forum/f11/sayfullahs-training-log-13924.html). There's a long gap from where that one ends and where this one begins, but I've been working out since then as well.

My plan is basically 3x/week alternating between A and B workouts where:

A:
Squats 5x5
Dumbell Bench 5x8
Barbell Rows 5x5

B:
Squats 5x5
Shoulder Press 5x5
Deadlifts 1x5

Based on how I feel on any day I'd throw in some more exercises working out the same stuff as that day just to do a bit more.

So expect updates from me every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday (workout days)!